1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to activity monitoring systems, and more specifically, to systems and methods for managing police resources within specified geographic regions which may include high probability crime areas.
2. Background Art
Police departments nationwide continue to face budget freezes and deep cuts, requiring them to manage their resources more effectively while still responding to public demand for crime prevention and reduction. Because of this, there has been a more recent emphasis on attempting to predict crime before it occurs so as to focus precious resources in higher crime risk areas to maximize the potential of the public safety force.
Examples of more basic crime prediction or forecasting techniques include: crime counts, pin maps depicting past crime locations, and crime hotspot maps as some of the proposed methods of managing and allocating police resources. In dealing with crime data, crime hotspot maps are the most widely used tool for the quantification of future crime risk and are a key element in hotspot policing. However, these methods have generally proven unsatisfactory because they fail to take into account both long-term spatial variations in risk as well as short term elevation in risk following crime in a systematic way.
One such effort at a more advanced level of crime data analysis may be found in a software application named Crimestat. However, this software does not predict near-repeat patterns and is relatively cumbersome to use with an intensive learning curve since it requires expertise in GIS and additional software such as Arc GIS.
Another more recent solution that does take into account both long-term spatial variation in risk as well as short term elevation in risk following a crime may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 8,949,164 to Mohler (the '164 patent to Mohler), which is incorporated by reference. In general, the event forecasting system disclosed in the '164 patent to Mohler provides a predictive policing system that provides targeted, real-time, crime prediction forecasts that may take into account both spontaneous and triggered events. The results are presented in a user friendly format for patrol officers and shift commanders to better manage limited patrol resources. In addition to taking into account these long-term spatial variations and short term elevation in risk, the Mohler patent uses a more sophisticated computer model to assign probabilities to space time regions for the purpose of allocating police patrols. This approach further provides a dynamic element to crime prediction to get out ahead of predicted crime hotspots instead of merely chasing all crime as it appears. This approach further aids law enforcement so that the patrol officers avoid the drawback of chasing many single-event crimes that are not part of an emerging crime pattern.
One feature of the '164 patent to Mohler is the visual presentation of one or more high probability crime locations in the form of a geographic outline over a sub-region of a map element. This geographic region or hotspot can be as small as a parking space, house, or other single location or range much larger in size. When officers determine their location is within the outline, they understand they are in a high probability crime region. The underlying map with street names and intersections assists the officers with finding their way into the region. The officer's current location may also be shown on the map element as determined by a GPS unit associated with the officer. This visual presentation further aids the officer in determining if they are in the high probability crime region. Locating the patrol units within the hotspots supports the prime directive to provide a police presence within the high probability crime region. Once the hotspot is known, police protocol generally determines the recommended amount of time the officers should spend within the hotspot. However, there is no indicator for measuring the amount of time, either individually or collectively, that a patrol spends within the hotspot. This is important as more instances of police presence, also known as dosage, generally provide stronger residual effects on crime.
In reviewing the impacts of police presence, recent studies indicate that there may also be a point of diminishing returns relative to the amount of dosage or police presence. Thus, it would certainly be advantageous to provide an indication of the amount of police presence within certain regions, particularly high probability crime regions or other selected space, during selected time intervals. Furthermore, such indicators relative to known, calculated, or estimated dosages would further be beneficial in terms of patrol management, including the allowance for threshold variations from location to location. In addition to patrol presence, this activity monitoring and management feature may be applied to other scenarios as well that would benefit from knowing the whereabouts and presence (or lack of) of units or resources relative to a time-space grid.
Thus, there exists a need for an improved activity monitoring and resource management tool that better facilitates the determination of and feedback relating to dosage and related data.